Fostering L2 Proficiency and Learner Autonomy through Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL)

Abstract

The potential of mobile technology is examined in the field of education in order to enhance the teaching and learning process, as the use of mobile devices is found popular among students. Novel teaching pedagogies and learning styles are applied with the use of mobile devices. Therefore, this paper aims at investigating the effectiveness of Mobile Assisted Language Learning in fostering Learner Autonomy at the tertiary level. This study was carried out for one semester, involving thirty-six (48) third year social science students from the Faculty of Arts. The participants were randomly divided into a control group and an experimental one that were taught with traditional teaching pedagogy and MALL based program respectively. Classroom observation, questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, informal discussion, pre-test and post-test were used as data collecting instruments. At the end of this qualitative study, the results showed that the experimental group performed better. This implies that Mobile Assisted Language Learning has an effective impact on promoting L2 proficiency and learner autonomy.